Canucks Army Post-Game: Super Nova

Stats

Quick Hits

• How do the Canucks send Stecher back to Utica? Can they even? Just imagine the outcry. At that point, Canucks General Manager Jim Benning’s commentary about fan angst when a player is sent down would become a self-fulfilled prophecy. We can talk about tonight. There’s the goal that stands out as a huge positive, though I imagine most goalies stop that on most night. For me, though, that wasn’t the brightest of Stecher’s many brilliant moments. There were so many to choose from. The one that sticks out is probably a simple zone exit midway through the second. Stecher loses a puck battle, stays in position to retrieve the puck when a larger Canuck separates the opposition from the puck and skates it out from beneath the goal line and across his netminder to create space for an easy exit. That’s not a play that most rookies are going to try. It’s the exact kind of play that adds up over the course of a game or season. That much is evident in Stecher’s 70% Corsi For — the highest mark among Canucks defenders.
• The Stars crease situation is eerily similar to the American election cycle we all just endured — and are likely to endure for another four years, sigh. No matter who they choose, it’s always going to be the lesser of two evils. Similar to the candidates in the last election cycle, though, one is very clearly better than the other. Hell, both are false equivalencies. Back to the goaltending, though. Antti Niemi isn’t exactly shutting things down, but his .926 even-strength Sv% is a fair amount better than Lehtonen’s .918. Yet Lehtonen’s started ten of the Stars eighteen games. Then again, the Stars wouldn’t be a Southern staple if they didn’t make decisions against their best interests with alarming regularity.
• Vancouver’s played from behind in 396 of their 668 minutes at even strength. They’ve played with a lead for 31 minutes. I’ve got nothing.
• Bo Horvat’s line was on fire. If we use Horvat’s on-ice numbers as a proxy for the group, they ran an 85% Corsi For and had 12 shot attempts to the opposition’s two. The best of the three? That was Alex Burrows with his 94% Corsi For. Burrows almost had a goal, too. Shame about that damned rulebook. Apparently you can’t push the goalie in with the puck. Who knew?
• The Erik Gudbranson and Ben Hutton experiment has to be nearing an end. It hasn’t been good. Today was one of their worst showings, though. The puck was bouncing and hard to handle, sure, but the pair couldn’t leave their zone if their life depended on it. Gudbranson was especially poor, though. It seems like he’s losing a man in coverage once a game, and always with real estate to spare. To his credit, he makes that ground up more often than not, and it’s a non-issue on those occasions. Then again, if the other two pairs are working, what are the Canucks to do?
• If the Canucks had designs on parting ways with Head Coach Willie Desjardins, tomorrow would’ve been as good a day as any to do it. They’ve been listless for most of the season, and that would be their 11th loss in 12 games. The schedule gets pretty compact for Vancouver near the end of November. Have to think Desjardins is safe, for now.